Flavius, why the devil did you not review chapter 5? No, seriously, I'm joking. Thanks to the-rainbow-dreamer for reviewing, though!

Oh, and thanks to the person whose name escapes me right now who commented on my Gaia.

Chapter 6

"Come on, you lot." Rodger said. "I want to meet this Goddess."

"We are not stealing dragon's blood from Michael's office, Rodger" Julia scolded as they sat and ate breakfast in the playroom.

"But Cat wuna see 'er, dun ya 'at?" Rodger asked through a mouthful of cornflakes.

Fortunately, Cat could pretend not to understand.

"That's disgusting, Rodger." Janet reprimanded.

"'orry" he muttered in reply.

"And Julia's right." Janet continued. "Stealing dragon's blood is a very bad idea. Chrestomanci wouldn't be very happy."

"No, no he wouldn't." said a voice as the door opened. "And Millie wouldn't be particularly pleased either."

"Well, what do you suggest Conrad?" Rodger said irritably.

"I know a quick way to get to Series Ten that doesn't risk your life. But I shouldn't tell you that. Christopher would be incredibly mad." Conrad replied, leaning against the door frame.

"Please?" Cat asked.

"Pretty please?" Julia urged.

"Christopher really wouldn't like it…"

"He's going to tell us." Janet said, grinning. "And the reason he is, is that he likes to annoy your father."

"Right on the button, Miss Chant." Conrad grinned back at her. "Alright, I'll tell you once your lessons for today are over."

"Good one, Janet!" Rodger cried enthusiastically, patting her bac.

Janet blushed.

Julia and Cat laughed.

----

Lessons for Janet, Julia and Rodger were over and they were waiting impatiently for Cat in the playroom.

----

"Cat, are you even listening to me?" Chrestomanci asked.

"Not really." Cat had to admit. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Is Millie really from this world?"

Chrestomanci looked at him thoughtfully. "By that, I'm assuming you already guessed the answer was no."

"I did." Cat admitted. "So, she was the…"

"I'm not within liberty to tell you that, I'm afraid." Chrestomanci replied evasively. "Lesson over."

Cat looked at him suspiciously. "Alright." he replied, and then dashed off to the playroom.

------

"There you are, Cat!" Janet sighed. "At last!"

"Come on then." Conrad said. "We need to go down to the village."

----

They walked through the village, down to the alley.

"Stay with me." Conrad warned. "Don't go off yourself, I'm warning you."

The children didn't have to be told twice, and gathered closer together. They walked right to the end of the street, where there appeared to be a dead end. "Now, tell me what you see." Conrad said.

"The dead end." Julia, Rodger and Janet replied.

But Cat looked closer. He carefully put out a hand, and drew it back almost instantly. "How many spells are here?" he asked amazed.

"Quite a few. Break them, but remember to put them back up when you're done."

"How'd you…?" Rodger started, amazed

"I found this in a picture." Conrad said smugly. "It's a patched up…well, never mind it's too complicated. But we'd better be back soon. Christopher's many things, but he's not stupid."

Cat nodded, and then he, Julia, Rodger and Conrad picked at the spells and Janet felt useless.

-----

After a while, the spells were broken and the four children slipped through the space. Rodger and Julia both repaired the spells, and Cat doubled them.

"Where are we?" Janet asked, looking around at the place. It was like a huge wall of rocks, and seemed to go on forever.

"Worlds Edge. Follow me." Conrad replied.

It took them a few hours to find Series Ten, and another forty five minutes to find the Temple. But find it they did.

"And how do we get in?" Janet demanded.

Conrad looked at her pointedly. "What do you take me for? Do you think I'd bring you all the way out here for nothing? Don't be absurd. Now, I happen to have been here before, and one of the older priestesses owes me a favour. Wait here." He walked into the Temple. Ten minutes later, he came back out looking rather pleased with himself. "You can get in through the side door. You have an hour, then we really have to leave. It's almost the Goddess' birthday, and apparently they need to prepare."

Cat and Janet looked at each other in alarm, and the four children went through the indicated door, and were instantly plunged into darkness.

---

"Who's there?" a girl's voice demanded through the pitch blackness.

"Goddess, is that you?" Janet asked, knocking something over and wincing. It sounded expensive.

"Janet! Is Cat there? Have you come to get me out?" the Goddess sounded excited.

"I'm here!" Cat replied. "Why is it so dark?"

"Oh, it's a strange tradition. I'm not supposed to see anyone for three days before my birthday, and the Priestesses take it quite literally. Do any of you know how to create light?"

I do." Janet replied, much to the surprise of the three who knew her. She reached blindly into her bag and bought out a torch, flicking it on. "Meet some Twelve B magic." She laughed at the expressions on their faces. Now, Goddess, what were you saying about getting you out?"

"Who are they?" the Goddess asked, quite astonished to see Rodger and Julia.

"Oh, these are Chrestomanci's children." Cat replied quietly.

"Oh, Julie and Robert?" the Goddess asked.

"Almost right." Rodger laughed, and then corrected her.

"Oh. Well, will you take me back to your world? Please?"

The four Chants looked at each other, surprised. "But we can't-" Cat started.

"We'd get in so much trouble-" Julia said.

"Hang on." Rodger seemed to have taken a liking to the Goddess. "If she follows us and we don't know…"

Julia looked at her brother. "Well, we're in trouble anyway." She shrugged.

They talked for a while. Then-

"Well, goodbye, Goddess, and good luck with your birthday." Cat said, louder than usual.

"Yes, goodbye, Cat." The Goddess replied. "Oh, and Janet, here's your book."

"Keep it." Janet replied, and the four children left. They were aware of the eyes of Conrad's friendly priestess following their backs.

"All done?" Conrad asked cheerily as they were escorted out of the building by the priestess. "Now to go back and face Christopher!"

----

A few hours later, they were back at Chrestomanci Castle, and Chrestomanci was waiting for them. He didn't look too happy. "Nice of you to show up." he said.

"You needn't look at Cat like that, Christopher; they were down at the village with me.

Chrestomanci visibly relaxed. Now he could blame Conrad, and Millie might back off. "Come on then, we'd better get you four to the playroom.

Cat, Janet, Julia and Rodger all sighed, relieved. Cat was aware of someone invisibly bumping into him. Oops.

"Ouch!" the Goddess couldn't help gasping.

"Who's your friend, Cat?" Chrestomanci said, whirling around and instantly cancelling the spell.

"She…" Cat started helplessly.

"My name's Kitty, and I need someone to teach me magic." The Goddess replied. "I heard that you were good for the job."

Chrestomanci looked rather surprised by this. "Who are your parents?" he asked.

"I don't know." The Goddess replied staunchly. "I'm an orphan, but apparently I have a talent for magic. So, I came here when I met Cat and the others in the village. I do hope that isn't a problem, but Rodger and Julia said you wouldn't mind if I stayed here while I'm learning."

Chrestomanci looked at the other children, who tried not to look too surprised at this story.

He looked at Conrad, who shrugged.

And then he stared at the Goddess, who stared back defiantly.

"Alright." he said finally. "Alright, you can stay a few nights, and we'll certainly look into your claim of magic. You'll have to share with Julia or Janet tonight. They'll show you the way to the playroom. Dinner will be brought up in about an hour. Conrad, I must show you what I've found about your camera. "

Conrad nodded and left with Chrestomanci, but not before giving all five children an odd look.

The Goddess looked incredibly pleased.

Cat, Julia, Rodger and Janet, however, looked at each other warily. They weren't exactly sure what was going on here, but Chrestomanci certainly wasn't just going to accept the Goddess like that.

"So where's the playroom?" the Goddess asked cheerfully.

"Eh, this way." Rodger said and led the way.

A nice, long chapter for you to review.